<p>Boarding schools know where they stand in the pecking order. I don’t think schools at the top of the order would hesitate to take a student with legacy ties to another school. </p>
<p>It is a great advantage (in my opinion) for a parent to list their affiliations with boarding schools. So few people have any ties to these schools. If the parents have experience boarding themselves, the chances they’ll get cold feet at the last minute are much less. </p>
<p>Realistically, the admissions officers could probably list the other schools your child should apply to. They also likely know the “type” of candidate your child represents–athlete, scholar, artist, nice kid, community service type. Even if you don’t list that your child’s applying to Rival School B on the app, I’d assume they’re able to fill in the blanks. </p>
<p>They also apparently can buy data from SSAT on applicant patterns. They can predict pretty well how the candidates (as a whole) will decide. <a href=“http://www.admission.org/how-we-can-help/know-your-market/index.aspx[/url]”>http://www.admission.org/how-we-can-help/know-your-market/index.aspx</a></p>